The invention concerns a centre arm for holding an upper contact grilling or roasting plate, the centre arm having a substantially vertical supporting section and a holding section which is arranged pivotably on the vertical supporting section and to which the upper contact grilling or roasting plate is attached. Furthermore the invention concerns a contact grilling or roasting device having at least one upper contact grilling or roasting plate and a lower contact grilling or roasting plate, the or each upper contact grilling or roasting plate being arranged pivotably by a centre arm on the lower contact grilling or roasting plate.
Centre arms of this kind are used in the field of contact grilling or roasting devices having at least two contact plates designed for contact with the material to be grilled or roasted. Such contact grilling or roasting devices are known e.g. from EP 0 662 299 B1 and include an upper contact grilling or roasting plate and a lower contact grilling or roasting plate, the upper contact grilling or roasting plate being pivotably linked by a centre arm to the lower contact grilling or roasting plate. Associated with both contact plates is a unit which receives the wiring and has corresponding control elements, the unit usually being arranged below the two contact plates. The centre arm is usually in two parts. To put it another way, one centre arm element is mounted rigidly in the region of the lower contact grilling or roasting plate. A second centre arm element is arranged pivotably on the first centre arm element and holds the upper contact grilling or roasting plate. In the region of the centre arm are usually provided two devices for weight relief. A first device for weight relief, namely the weight relief device bearing the main load, is arranged in the vertically oriented centre arm element which is arranged in the region of the lower contact grilling or roasting plate. The second device for weight relief, namely the one for fine adjustment, is arranged in the pivotable centre arm element holding the upper contact grilling or roasting plate.
The contact plates, which are pivotably connected to each other or arranged relative to each other, are movable out of a closed position in which the upper contact grilling or roasting plate is in contact with the lower contact grilling or roasting plate or the material to be grilled or roasted (material to be cooked, for short)—that is, out of a shut position—into an operating position in which the upper contact grilling or roasting plate is pivoted away from the lower contact grilling or roasting plate for inserting or removing the material to be cooked—that is, into an open position, and vice versa. Usually, the upper contact grilling or roasting plate is movable, while the lower contact grilling or roasting plate is stationary. At least the weight relief device which bears the main load and which is arranged in the region of the lower contact grilling or roasting plate in the fixed centre arm element associated with the lower contact grilling or roasting plate serves to facilitate handling, particularly when opening the upper contact grilling or roasting plate. But furthermore the above-mentioned weight relief device also serves to hold or fix the upper contact grilling or roasting plate in a largely vertical position—that is, the fully open position—in order to prevent the upper contact grilling or roasting plate from “dropping shut” undesirably.
However, fixing the upper contact grilling or roasting plate exclusively in the fully open position, which exists due to the weight relief device, has the drawback that even minor vibrations or other external influences can lead to the upper contact grilling or roasting plate dropping shut undesirably. As a result, on the one hand the material to be cooked can be damaged and so become unusable. On the other hand, as a result there is a risk of injury to the operator. A further drawback lies in that the upper contact grilling or roasting plate is held or fixed stably only in the end positions, closed position and operating position, so that there are only limited possibilities of use.